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My rarest Pen-Knife - an OIO by Clarke, Shirley and Co

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    Posted 10 years ago

    Tunneltiger
    (1 item)

    This penknife was given to me by my father, who had received it from his father. It has a black, rough steel handle (cast to look like bone or wood - 78mm long, width of 10mm tapering towards the back at 17mm); it bears the mark "OIO" in relief. The blade is short and stubby (60mm x 10mm) and stills holds a wicked edge (even after over 100 years!). The blade carries the name of "Clarke, Shirley and Co, Sheffield". The blade also has the "OIO" mark.
    I tried to get info on this knife for decades, but no-one knew anything about it or the history of the company.
    Enter the Internet: still didn't have much luck. But recently - after a long and hard search - I found a copy of a book from 1879 titled " The Illustrated guide to Sheffield and surrounding districts". This had an advert for "OIO", which I have included. I also found one obscure reference to the fact that Clarke, Shirley and Co, sold out the OIO trade mark to "Harrison Fischer" - but no date was given. Also, another obscure reference stated that Clarke, Shirley and Co - "cutlers of Eyre Lane and Howard Street" - had won a First Class medal at the 1878 International Exhibition in Sydney Australia, which backed up the advert claim.
    What I DO know so far is this:
    (1) definitely not earlier than 1879 - this was roughly when W Shirley became Clarke, Shirley and Co.
    (2) Could be between 1879 and 1892 and even later than 1892 - Clarke, Shirley and Co still had the OIO trade mark in 1892. (got this from a hallmarks book).
    (3) Doubt whether it was much after about 1920, since my Grandad was born in 1905 and would have been a teenager when he got it from his dad.

    If anyone has ANY idea of how to date this knife, please let me know. Much appreciated, Garth

    PS: I have also identified the possible source of my knife: There was a World's Fair held in Kimberley in 1892; since Clarke, Shirley and Co had exhibited at other World's Fairs, they may have done so at this one. My father and his forebears lived in Kimberley for nearly a 100 years. My great-Grandfather could have visited the Fair and possibly bought the knife there (he was quite a prominent personality). But all this is conjecture at the moment. Once I locate a copy of the 1892 Catalogue, I will try to verify this. Unfortunately, the only copy I have is located in Kimberley museum.....1000km from me!!

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    Comments

    1. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 10 years ago
      It's things like this that keep us busy, off the streets & out of trouble. Nice.
    2. Oupa Oupa, 8 years ago
      So grateful to find this article. Helped identify one that was dug up as a clump of rust in a Johannesburg garden. Cleaned it and still folds as new with a nice click and blade still sharp. No markings survived many sharpenings of the blade.
    3. Kittavos, 5 years ago
      I received some old cutlery from my grandmother and three of the knifes (plain table knifes) have the marking "010 Clarke Shirley & Co Germiston. Have you found out anything more about the company?
    4. Oupa Oupa, 5 years ago
      This article was all I could find.
    5. Tunneltiger, 5 years ago
      Thanks for all your comments; Clarke, Shirley and Co did also make cutlery in the UK apparently - I found that recently. It would seem that they must have opened a factory in Germiston then (as part of the "Empire expansion"?).
      Possibly they also made the penknife - or may have imported those to sell locally. (the manufacture of stamped plate cutlery is much easier than the manufacture of a folding knife, with all the springs, separate blades etc).
      Nice to see that others are finding additional info! Thanks!

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